Honored
Leader: Jeffrey A. Hollender, President and Chief Regeneration Officer
Company Name: Seventh Generation, Inc.
Location: Burlington, Vt.
Nature of Business: Marketer of environmentally responsible household products
Founded: 1988
Revenue: $49.8 million
Growth Rate (2005): 37 percent
Number of Employees: 43
Average Tenure: 2.7 years
Jeffrey Hollender founded Seventh Generation, a leading marketer of environmentally responsible household products, in 1988. The company rewards its 50-person workforce with generous benefits including tuition reimbursement and on-site chair massages. Seventh Generation also focuses heavily on training, devoting nearly 90 hours to each new employee and 70 hours per employee in their second and succeeding years. This training has paid off: Sales of the company's products, which include 100 percent-recycled paper products and baby diapers, have increased 92 percent in the last two years. Hollender attributes the organization's success to making quality of work a priority. His goal for the company to be his employees' best working experience was recently validated by a new employee who reported finding more fulfillment in only a few months with Seventh Generation than he'd found in 15 years at his previous position.